Home cooking

Skinner continued his high-scoring season with what would be the game-winner while Carter Hutton only allowed one goal against the Arizona Coyotes in a 3-1 victory.

Depth was the key to the game for the Buffalo Sabres as three different lines contributed on the score sheet tonight. After a goal only 48 seconds into the opening period by Casey Mittelstadt, the Sabres looked hot out of the gate. They continued their dominance as Jeff Skinner scored his 22nd goal of the season. Arizona would cut the lead in half just 25 seconds later before being shutout for the remainder of the game.

Per.

Time

EV

Goal

Assist

Assist

1

8:48

Evan Rodrigues (5)

Rasmus Ristolainen (25)

Vladimir Sobotka (7)

1

12:12

Alexander Edler (5)

Bo Horvat (21)

Brock Boeser (15)

1

15:31

Sven Baertschi (7)

Derrick Pouliot (6)

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2

2:26

Kyle Okposo (8)

Johan Larsson (4)

Zemgus Girgensons (8)

2

8:00

Brock Boeser (8)

Bo Horvat (22)

---

2

12:52

Sam Reinhart (11)

Conor Sheary (12)

Jack Eichel (36)

3

5:57

Loui Eriksson (9)

Josh Leivo (4)

Jay Beagle (5)

Buffalo now has two wins in a row after coming off a five-game losing streak. Arizona added another loss to their record as their season continues to be filled with struggles.

Mittelstadt continued his development as he was finally rewarded with a beautiful shot through traffic to get his fifth of the season. His goal was a key start as you could see the Sabres get a hop in their step.

Buffalo’s top line remained productive as they now have 98 points in 96 games combined from Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner, and Sam Reinhart. After a turnover and a quick transition that started with a beautiful outlet pass by Reinhart, Eichel fed Skinner for the breakaway that didn’t last long as the puck zipped past Darcy Kuemper on the short side for the 2nd goal of the game.

Christian Fischer got Arizona on the board after coming from behind the net to jam the puck past Hutton. This would end up being Arizona’s only goal.

Hutton was very solid in net for Buffalo as he made 25 saves and held onto almost every loose puck. Kuemper made some good saves along with some helpers from his posts as he stopped 30 of 33 Buffalo shots.

The Buffalo Sabres will head to the nation’s capital for a Saturday night Showdown against the red hot, Stanley Cup Champions. The Washington Capitals are 8-2-0 in their last 10 and will play a 7:30 tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes Friday night before hosting the Buffalo Sabres. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.